Removing Sickers On Boat

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Hollywood

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I recently removed some letters that have been on the side of my Grady for years. I am now having a hard time getting the glue off and am also noticing some discoloration from where the letters used to be. Any advise is much appreciated!!!

I have attached a picture of the boat before the letters were taken off the side.

Thanks!
Jacy
 

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I just removed a bunch of stickers from my boat. I used a hair dryer to heat up the stickers enough to be able to easily pull the stickers off. Then I sprayed sticker remover all over the glue spots and let it sit for about a minute. Then used a plastic putty scraper and scraped the glue right off. No scratches. Then just wash the gelcoat with soap and water to get the sticker removed off.
 
After you removed the stickers and glue did you have any type of discoloration in the gel coat you had to deal with? The stickers have been on for 6 years....
 
Hollywood, I saw that you had your boat up for sale here in tx for a while, are you the owner or did you recently buy it?
 
Hollywood said:
After you removed the stickers and glue did you have any type of discoloration in the gel coat you had to deal with? The stickers have been on for 6 years....
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I didn't have that issue on this boat. I just bought it about a month and a half ago. I couldn't tell you how long those stickers were on there. There was one city registration that said 1999, and the gelcoat looked fine. The previous owner kept the boat covered, so sun fade wasn't an issue. On my last boat, I used a high speed buffer and 3M heavy duty rubbing compound, and everything blended in real nice.
 
Believe it or not, try Easy off oven cleaner. I had a Black Watch before my Grady and it had gigantic letters on the side. I sprayed EO onto the letters and let it sit for a few minutes. I used a plastic scraper and the letters came right off with no shadow or residue. Search other boating sires for Easy off and I'm sure you'll find many hits.
 
I had to do the same thing just this past week. I bought a 265 in february and wanted to change the name. i used a heat gun with some plastic razor blades to remove my name. As far as the sticky residue left behind, there are a lot of products out there but i would recommend "boat life solvent" its made by the same people who make life caulk. Its a nasty solvent but it gets the job done quick! Also i would steer you towards a real heat gun rather then a hair dryer because you have a lot of decals to remove.
 
Yes, I am the original owner and have not had any luck with the sale yet. Thanks for all the help and suggestions.
 
You may have difficulty with the ghost shadow from the old name. Par for the course. I had to wet sand my hull to remove the ghost shadow from the stripes I removed from my Grady. Good luck!! Wet sand and then compound and wax. Hard work. 8)
 
Agree with the wet sanding afterwards if you have ghosting. I had painted decals on my new boat and used oven off on one side but it took a long time so I did light sanding with wet 1,500 then 1,000 and it was much faster. Either way, you will probably have to light compound afterwards.
 
I had the same problem (shadowing) when I renamed my 246g last year.

First I got the stickers off - using a hair dryer as has been mentioned before.
Next, I used a rag soaked in acetone to remove the residue. Note use lots of rags making sure to use a clean section with each wipe, othewise you will just push the glue around.
Lastly I used some 3M Perfection compound.

looks like new

Good luck
John
 
Completely agree with John. I used a heat gun on low, but the hair dryer will work if the Admiral will allow it. The acetone is also a great tip. It will take off some nasty stuff, is safe on the cured gelcoat, and is not expensive. It goes a long way. Like John said, use plenty of rags. The 3m products: good stuff and great results. I was not pleased with Shurhold brand buf magic, so I switched to 3M and have been completely satisfied.
 
I removed my stripes at the end of last year and with the intention of replacing them but I ended up liking the look, except for the shadowing, being a 1985 Tournament 190. Under the old stripes it is definitely shinier and more yellow and raised a bit. When you guys say you wetsanded with 600/800/1000 and then compounded, Can I get some details? Did you wetsand the entire hull or just where you were trying to blend the stripe area to the rest of the hull.
Thanks,
Don
1985 190 Tournament
St. Michaels, MD.
 
Tour190 said:
I removed my stripes at the end of last year and with the intention of replacing them but I ended up liking the look, except for the shadowing, being a 1985 Tournament 190. Under the old stripes it is definitely shinier and more yellow and raised a bit. When you guys say you wetsanded with 600/800/1000 and then compounded, Can I get some details? Did you wetsand the entire hull or just where you were trying to blend the stripe area to the rest of the hull.
Thanks,
Don
1985 190 Tournament
St. Michaels, MD.
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If its bad I dont think wet sanding will fix it. I took the name off the boat we just bought and had it porfessionally detialed. They wet sanded the area that had the old name before putting the new name on and you can still see the spots that are different shades.

:bang
 
I would say it's worth a shot. My hull is a 1994, so it sat in the sun a good long time. Boat was neglected. When I removed the 2 stripes, the gelcoat below was raised and baby fresh. Looked like new hull. I spent probably 4 weekends working on it here and there. Used 320 grit to knock down and blend the stubborn ghost areas, which were all to the bow of the boat. Then did the old 600, 800, then 1000 grit, followed by compound, finess, and wax. They are gone with the wind and this boat hull looks new. I will say, this was 10 times the work I thought it would be. I thought I would get away with compound after 600 grit, but didn't like the results. Finished it out with 800, followed by 1000. If you are willing to work - hard - it can be done. Happy boating this spring!
 
I had / have similar issue with ghosting where the surrounding gel coat faded. Found that multiple compounding and several high quality coats of wax helped to blend it in. Each spring I can still see the old name re-emerge and I do the same process. Each year it fades a little bit so I can barely see it this spring. Once it is compounded and waxed it disappears and will be gone until next winter. Good luck
 
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